The present invention relates to heating systems and more particularly to a modular system of flat, flexible heater units each having an integrated ground layer and integrated connectors.
During the winter ice dams can form in rain gutters and on eaves that extend beyond the walls of a building. Ice patches form on driveways and outdoor walkways that are subject to freeze and thaw cycles. In cold climates heated floors or walls may be desirable.
Proposed solutions to the build up of ice dams include a row of heated shingles over the eaves, a heated roof drip edge and heated rain gutters. U.S. Pat. No. 2,546,743 to Harrison, U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,343 to Norman and U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,184 to McKenna disclose heated roofing shingles. U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,657 to Stanford discloses a heated roof drip edge strip, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,526 to Taouil discloses a heated roof drip edge strip with an integrated gutter guard. U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,533 to Swanfeld Jr. discloses a heated rain gutter, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,858 to Tourangeau et al. discloses a combination heated drip edge and heated gutter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,786,563 to Tiburzi discloses rigid heated roof edge panels that extend over the rain gutters and have a valve that selectively allows water to drain into the gutters or over the panel edge beyond the gutters. The panels of Tiburzi can replace the lower shingles or the panels can be mounted over existing lower shingles. U.S. Pat. No. 3,129,316 to Glass et al. discloses a rigid heater panel suitable for mounting under shingles on the eave of a building. U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,352 to Turton discloses a flexible mat heater suitable for mounting under shingles on the eave of a building.
Modular heating system includes flat, flexible heater modules each having a non-conductive inner layer, first and second power wires and at least one heater element on one face of the inner layer and a ground layer on the other face of the inner layer. A non-conductive first outer layer covers the power wires and heater element, and a non-conductive second outer layer covers the ground layer. The first and second power wires extend across the inner layer. The first and second power wires, and the ground layer connect to terminals mounted along a first edge of the inner layer and connect at opposite ends to terminals mounted along a second edge of the inner layer, opposite the first edge. Adjacent heater modules connect together through molded connectors and heater modules at angles to each other connect together with flexible connectors. Each heater element connects at one end to the first power wire and at the opposite end to the second power wire.